330 confirmed cases in France, WHO on alert

France had 330 confirmed cases of infection with the monkeypox virus on Thursday, health authorities announced, adding that the first infected woman had a partner who previously reported a rash. “As of 2 p.m. on June 23, 2022, 330 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported in France,” the French public health agency said on its website. The previous report, Tuesday, reported 277 cases, including, for the first time, a woman.

WHO calls for vigilance

In the case of this “young woman”, the health agency said on Thursday, “the (untested) partner reported that he had had a rash three weeks before”. Until now, the current outbreak of monkeypox, which is affecting some forty countries, mainly but not exclusively concerns men who have had homosexual relations, with no direct link to people returning from endemic areas.

The WHO on Thursday called on countries to be vigilant and transparent in the face of a rare outbreak of more than 3,200 cases of monkeypox worldwide, while waiting to decide whether it triggers its highest level of alert. His decision on whether the situation constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern” is not expected to be known until at least Friday. Monkeypox first manifests as a high fever and quickly progresses to a rash. The disease, hitherto contained in a dozen African countries, usually heals spontaneously after two to three weeks.

Ile-de-France, the most affected region

Of all the cases observed in France, there are “227 in Ile-de-France, 22 in Occitania, 21 in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, 19 in New Aquitaine, 14 in Hauts-de-France, 14 in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 6 in Normandy, 3 in Brittany, 1 in Center Val-de-Loire, 1 in Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 1 in Pays-de-la-Loire and 1 in Grand-Est » , detail the health authorities.

Among the cases investigated, 77% presented a genito-anal eruption, 73% an eruption on another part of the body, 71% a fever… Thirteen are immunocompromised. None died.